Knee Ligament operation

[bigcheese]

Hey all. I'm after a bit of reassurance.

 

In November I am having an operation an my knee. The procedures are anterior cruciate ligament and posterolateral reconstruction.

 

I have been told by a couple of people that it is really painful afterwards. The good thing is that it is being done through BUPA as I am covered with work.

 

Has anybody out there had the same operations done, and if so, I would be grateful to hear your stories/comments.....and please be honest. I would rather be prepared and know what I am letting myself in for.

 

:shocked:

[rothschild]

Hi bigcheese. Hubby had his knee sorted out a few years ago at the Clairemont. He did have ligament problems but I don't think he had any re-construction stuff done. We had to be at the hospital for 7am on the day of the operation. He had his own room and the staff were wonderful. I stopped the whole day with him and I was able to help myself to coffee whenever I wanted to. I couldn't find any food though.....but much later after the op, hubby was brought a sandwich and when the staff found out that I hadn't eaten during the previous 12 hours they also fed me. Anyhow.....his operation was done under "spinal block", which meant that he was awake throughout. He is the biggest coward going but he felt totally relaxed and was actually very interested in watching the whole thing on the telly screen. When they brought him back to the room he decided to spend the next couple of hours snoring his head off.....while I sat twiddling my thumbs! His operation was done through "keyhole surgery" which left only a tiny scar on either side of the knee. By about 7pm hubby was woken up and fed and watered. Then he had to be taken to the bathroom to pee......a requirement of early release from the hospital. By 8pm he had found his legs and we were allowed to go home. He was released with crutches which he carried and never used once! He was signed off from work but went back early. Cant remember how long his sick note was for. He was told to expect a lot of pain and was issued with painkillers on leaving the hospital. He might have took them for a day or two but that is the maximum. In all honesty it was nowhere near as bad as he had been led to believe. AND....he returned to work earlier than the sick note said.

Every operation that any of us have to endure is forced to fill us with fear. BUT.....allways remember this.....pain relief is very effective these days. You have to have this operation bigcheese and it will make your life much easier afterwards. Any pain that you might suffer will only be shortlived and easily controlled with pain killers.

Good luck.

[Deepak_S7]

Theres a surgeon in Sheffield who does the knee operations for football players but I cant remember who

 

Who's doing yours?

 

If you have BUPA you can choose cant you?

 

Deepak

[Katya]

Theres a surgeon in Sheffield who does the knee operations for football players but I cant remember who

 

 

Deepak

 

That'll be Derek Bickerstaff - works out of Thornbury

[surfinjim]

Theres a surgeon in Sheffield who does the knee operations for football players but I cant remember who

 

Who's doing yours?

 

If you have BUPA you can choose cant you?

 

Deepak

 

Deepak

 

The top man in Sheffield was/is Derek Bickerstaff. He's based at RHH but obviously does a lot of private stuff as well.

 

I had key hole surgery done by him many years ago but major stuff like cruciates.

 

Jim:thumbsup:

[Ginner]

I had an ACL reconstruction in 1996 under Mr Bickerstaff at Thornbury. Also had cartilidge trimmed by keyhole at the same time.

 

I went under general aneasthetic cos I'm a pussy, although he did offer me the spinal block thingy. (I still got to watch the operation afterwards cos I bought the video of it - literally).

 

Post op my knee was placed immediately in a contraption that flexed the joint continually for 24hrs. I believe this post op physio was seen as pretty cutting edge at the time, as I had heard the stories of being in full leg plaster for 6 weeks, and having a 6 inch scar etc. It was pretty uncomfortable but Mr B explained that immediate movement of the joint was now the way to go, and massively reduced the recovery time.

 

I left the hospital after 48hrs on crutches (no weight bearing allowed for a couple of weeks on the knee). I think I was kept in for 48 hrs cos I went under general aneasthetic.

 

The post op physio was pretty agressive for the next 4-6 weeks. The most pain for me was caused by the wound where the ligament graft was taken from. But if you stick to the physio's instructions you should make a good recovery. As the physio said, the effort you put in reflects the degree of normality you will return to.

 

If you are bothered about the scarring... I have 2 vertical one inch scars on the front of my knee. One was where the ligament graft was taken from to be used as the new ACL. I also had a tiny little scab about 4 inches above my knee. I questioned this in my post op meeting with the surgeon and he explained this is where the 'needle' that was used to 'thread' the new ACL through my knee had exited my leg

I also have 2 lateral 2cm scars on either side of my knee where the cartidge key hole was done.

The scarring is not at all prominent, especially as it's on your knee. From a blokey point of view I found this a little disapointing

 

Note, I would have thought the procedure/recovery might have moved on a way since I had mine done. Any concerns, have a word with your surgeon. Mr Bickerstaff was superb.

[Mandem]

I have just been in Thornbury and had my cartilege repaired. Mr. Buckley was my surgeon, very good. I too had heard all the stories, "you will be off your feet for 14 days" etc. I went in at 7am, had my keyhole op at 8am. I had full anesthetic, as I didn't fancy the spinal thing. Back in my room for 10am, had some lunch, then the physio came, got me up walking, no crutches, no walking stick, up and down stairs, then I got my pain relief, and was home for 4pm. Can't praise them highly enough, its now 4 weeks since I had it done, and although it is still a wee bit stiff, I don't have much pain, and if I do, I rub ibuprofen get on it and it works a treat.

[Betty1]

Mr. Bickerstaff only does private work. Doesn't do any NHS work at all.

[cricks1]

hi bigcheese, had my anterior cruciate reconstructed on sept 2nd 2004. op was done at clairemont by consultant neil brown. was crapping myself after various stories about the pain but these where totally unfounded. although there is some pain it aint half as bad as when you sustain the injury in the first place! you have to remember that someone is poking around in your knee so its gonna hurt! was told to expect 9 months off work but was off crutches in 10 days and back at work by december. only advice i will give is to attend all physio sessions, it is for your benefit. i`m back playing footie now and i`m 35! best of luck.

[Top Banana]

Hi bigcheese. I had my anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed about 5 weeks ago along with my cartilage being sewn up by Dr Brown who works privately and through the NHS.

 

The waiting around before hand is the most nerve racking part but when you go in the staff reassure you and you feel quite relaxed. I had a general aneasthetic because the thought of me not being able to use my legs scared the crap out of me. There's a tiny prick when they put the aneasthetic thing in, you start to feel a little woosy and then your out in a few seconds.

 

Waking up I felt quite disorientated but the nurse was there as soon as I woke up. My knee was in a fair bit of pain, a little less than when I first injured it but they soon sorted that out with some nice druggies. I was wheeled off to the ward with the rest of cripples and they put my knee in a machine (CPM machine I think) which continually flexes your leg for 24 hours to stop your knee from stiffening up and to keep the circulation going, painful at first but I got used to it.

 

The night is pretty wierd cos there are drugged up old loonies all around you talking gibberish so you'll want to bring your MP3 player or something but not if your having it done privately .Your hooked up to an drip which the nurses always want to change in the middle of the night but does make you feel very relaxed.

 

I got out the next morning on cruches after getting instructions from the physiotherapists and getting antibiotics and anti-inflamitaries. I have a 2cm vertical scar where two stitches lay and small scabs over my knee (I still don't know why).

 

I was in a fair bit of pain for the next few days but not nothing excrutiating, my advice is to start with the exercises they give you straight away and just stay round the house if possible. 2 weeks post op all the pain had gone but my knee was still not strong enough to weight bear. The physio sessions are quite intensive and really gets you going for the first 6 weeks and then there are acl classes that you can go to with others in the same predicament which are meant to give you your strength back into your knee. I am now 5 weeks post op with no pain and can get about on my feet just as well as before, I got off cruches 4 weeks post-op, you can start driving at 6 weeks (if you have recovered sufficiently)

 

Remember you are having quite a serious operation and they are doing a fair bit inside your knee and leg so expect some pain but it is not half as bad as they say as the doctors are just trying to prepare you. Everybody recovers at different speeds so do not get too frustrated if it takes longer than you expected.

 

I hope this has been helpful to you and good luck with the op